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Royal Sussex Regiment - 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion
Royal Sussex Regiment - 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion
The 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment, consisting of approximately 4,500 men, were known colloquially as “Lowther’s Lambs”. This was a reference to local MP Claude Lowther, who had taken personal responsibility for raising the battalions. The 12th and 13th Battalions, supported by the 11th, were sacrificed in a diversionary raid on the Boar’s Head salient at Richebourg on 30th June 1916 in an attempt to draw German attention away from the main Somme battle area further south. The Battle at Boar’s Head lasted less than five hours, but the Southdowns Brigade lost 17 officers and 349 other ranks. Over 1,000 men were wounded or taken prisoner, and the 13th Battalion was all but wiped out. June 30th 1916 was subsequently known as “The Day Sussex Died”. This community remembers the lives of men who served with the 12th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, whether they took part in the battle at Boar's Head or not, and includes all those who died, were wounded, or somehow survived relatively unscathed.
Created by: , Yvonne27542
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British Army 2061 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army 245562 Private Royal Engineers
British Army 619531 Private Royal Engineers
More about George Cawley -
British Army 2758 Private Honourable Artillery Company
British Army Second Lieutenant Royal Sussex Regiment
British Army Lieutenant Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Sydney Herbert Swallow -
British Army 1476 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
British Army 6290 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
British Army 73359 Private Royal Defence Corps
More about Sydney Henry Tarrant -
Born 1890
Died 1916
British Army SD/3237 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Ernest Leslie Thomas -
Born 1897
Died 1916
British Army SD/5204 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th Battalion
More about Walter J Wickens -
Died 1916
British Army SD/1620 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Charles Norton Turner -
Born 1893
Died 1916
British Army SD/5260 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Gilbert Hermann Royce Wilson -
Born 1891
Died 1916
British Army 737 2178 Private Honourable Artillery Company
British Army Lieutenant Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Clive Sparks -
Born 1888
British Army SD/1461 Serjeant Royal Sussex Regiment
British Army 1461 Royal Sussex Regiment 12th (2nd South Down) Battalion
More about Henry Spencer -
Died 1916
British Army SD/1551 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Alfred Sprange -
Born 1896
Died 1916
British Army SD/3012 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Wilfred Augustus Squires -
British Army SD/1944 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Frederick J Stangemore -
Born 1893
Died 1916
British Army SD/1127 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about George Rupert Coates -
Died 1916
British Army SD/4011 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th Battalion
More about Alfred Charles Crittenden -
Died 1916
British Army SD/2287 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
More about Harold Griffiths -
Born 1896
British Army 1286 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
British Army 230340 Private Labour Corps 612 Company
More about Arthur T Challen -
British Army 1445 Private Royal Sussex Regiment
British Army 434805 Private Labour Corps
More about Edward Reed -
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Born 1895
Died 1916
British Army SD/1614 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th Battalion
More about Frank Richards